14 
BULLETIN 129, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Table 7. — Relative values of commercial alcohol and acetate per cord of wood of various 
species. 1 
[Average value of yields from heartwood and lumber of beech, 
equals 100 per cent.] 
birch, and maple from Wisconsin ($8.06) 
Species. 
Locality. 
Heart- 
wood. 
Slabs. 
Heart- 
wood 
and 
lumber. 
Mean 
heart- 
wood 
and 
slabs. 
Sapwood. 
Limbs. 
Beech 
Indiana 
Per cent. 
100.2 
108.1 
98.4 
96.0 
100.2 
103.0 
86.0 
53.2 
Per cent. 
104.2 
110.2 
102.0 
95.5 
96.0 
97.0 
80.7 
51.0 
Per cent. 
102.1 
Per cent. 
102.5 
109.2 
100.1 
95.8 
93.1 
100.0 
83.3 
52.1 
Per cent. 
113.0 
Per cent. 
Do 
Pennsylvania 
Wisconsin 
Birch 
97.7 
Do 
Pennsylvania 
Wisconsin 
Maple 
95.8 
Do 
Pennsylvania 
Red gum 
Chestnut 
New Jersey 
60.7 
Hickorv 
118.0 
94.5 
"White oak 
do 
93.3 
83.9 
75.0 
90.7 
88.0 
87.2 
92.0 
85.9 
81.8 
Do 
Tupelo 
Missouri 
88.1 
i The weights per cord are derived as explained on p. 6. 
Assuming that the value of the charcoal and the cost of plant 
operation per cord of wood is the same for all species, the differeneas 
in the value of the alcohol and acetate produced by the various woods 
represent the differences in the value of these woods for distillation 
purposes. 1 The average value of the alcohol and acetate yields 
from Indiana beech and Wisconsin birch and maple heartwood is 
$8.06 per cord. The values of these products from the heartwood 
of chestnut, red gum, tupelo (slabs), and southern and northern oak, 
are less than this amount by $3.78, $1.14, $1.03, $1.30, and $0.54, 
respectively; from hickory (factory waste) the products are $1.55 
greater in value. The average price paid is only about $3.50 per cord, 
and consequently the use of chestnut for this purpose is out of the 
question. Oak, tupelo, and red gum, under favorable conditions 
of supply and cost, might be used profitably, while hickory should 
command a very good price for this purpose. Since these deductions 
are based on the value of the chemical products they apply less 
strongly in case of plants making only a partial recovery of these 
products. 
The value of alcohol and acetate from the different forms and 
species as given in Table 6 are compared in Table 7 by means of a 
standard value. This value is $8.06, being the average value of 
beech (from Indiana), birch, and maple heartwood (from Wisconsin). 
This standard is taken as 100 per cent and the other values are ranked 
accordingly. 
1 The assumption in regard to the cost of operation will undoubtedly hold so far as the destructive 
distillation of the wood is concerned. However, the cost of the refining operations is approximately 
proportionate to the amount of crude pyroligneous acid produced; although this is variable, it bears some 
relation to the yield of refined products. The large amount of crude pyroligneous acid per cord of hickory 
would tend to increase the refining cost per cord of wood; likewise the low yields of crude pyroligneous 
acid from chestnut, tupelo, and red gum would tend to lower the cost of these woods. Therefore, the 
assumption made is not entirely correct, but the diiferences are not great enough to affect seriously the 
conclusions. 
